National color raw owl

The capital of Luo'an, the prince's mansion.

It was late at night, and the entire Prince's Mansion was terribly silent. Although Liuli was the closest person to the Prince, and accompanied him almost all the time, there was no one around the Prince today. Inside, it was pitch black.

The prince sat alone in the wheelchair, looking out of the window, and there was a picturesque scenery outside the window, but at this moment, in the eyes of the prince, it was gloomy.

His expression was extremely haggard, and even his eyes looked very empty. With his hands on the blanket covering his legs, he stared at the scenery outside the window in a daze.

He sat there blankly, his face a little pale, living in the prince's mansion for many years without seeing the sun all year round, which made his skin look sickly white.

He has already learned the news of Quzhou's fall, and now he is only worried about Lei Guheng's safety. Lei Guheng is a pillar in the southeast, and also the hope of keeping the capital. Before the sky falls, as long as Qin Shui is guarded so that the Taoists of Tianmen can't get through, the emergency can be postponed.

Yuan Buyi's rebellion in Jinling Dao was indeed beyond the Crown Prince's expectations. Yuan Buji led his subordinates to behead Song Yuan, the governor of Jinling Dao, and even established himself as the King of Shun. The prince was not flustered, and responded calmly. Qiao Mingtang's troops who came from Xishan Road were supposed to be deployed to the Qinshui River, but because of the rebellion in Jinling, the prince immediately ordered Qiao Mingtang to lead his army westward to pacify Yuan Buyi. turmoil.

Although there are tens of thousands of guards in Jinling Road, the crown prince doesn't think that all the soldiers and horses will be united with Yuan Buyi. Qiao Mingtang headed to Jinling under the banner of the crown prince of Jianguo. It was enough to withstand Yuan Buyi's rebellion, and it would not let the Jinling army commander under Yuan Buyi's command drive straight in and threaten the capital.

Except for the Wujing guard who stayed in the capital, the prince transferred almost all of the troops outside the capital to the Qinshui River. This is the most elite army in the empire. All the troops that can be taken out.

What troubled the prince was the Jinling warehouse in Jinling Road. It was one of the four major granaries in the empire, and it was also the largest granary in the empire. Of the four major granaries, only the Jinling warehouse still had grain in stock. He ordered that all the grain be transferred from the Jinling warehouse to the capital to fight to the death with the Tianmen Dao, but before the grain from the Jinling warehouse had arrived in the capital, Yuan Buji had already started a rebellion, and the Jinling warehouse fell into the capital without any suspense. In the hands of Yuan Buyi.

Jinling is a place of wealth and wealth in the empire, where the gentry are like a cloud, and they are splendid and prosperous. Before the officials took office, they had already purchased houses in Jinling.

The prince even thought that if there is a real shortage of supplies in the end, he can forcefully collect money and food from Jinling Road. There are so many rich and powerful merchants in Jinling Road, and these people also hold a lot of money and food in their hands. The supplies in their hands belong to the Jinling Warehouse. Several times, it is enough to support the needs of the war, but of course the prince will not act rashly and cause chaos in Jinling unless it is a last resort, but before he can do anything to Jinling, Yuan Buyi has already controlled Jinling, which really makes the prince feel a little annoyed .

For Qiao Mingtang, the crown prince's order was also concise and clear. First of all, it must be ensured that none of Yuan Buyi's soldiers could leave Jinling. On this basis, if there is a chance to win the Jinling warehouse, he must seize the opportunity.

The time Lei Guheng won in the south of Qinshui allowed the prince to build a strong line of defense by the Qinshui River, and the two bridges on the Qinshui River were also ready to be destroyed at any time, but the prince ordered that it was not until the last moment. , the bridge must not be destroyed, Lei Guheng is still south of Qinshui, if the bridge is easily destroyed, even Lei Guheng will not be able to cross the bridge and return.

Even though he thought so, deep in the prince's heart, there was always an ominous premonition. He hoped that Lei Guheng could return safely and join hands to keep the capital, but the resoluteness of Lei Guheng before leaving made him The crown prince felt uneasy. He followed Lei Guheng back then, and understood the temperament of this veteran to some extent. He regarded honor as his life, and had retreated to the vicinity of the capital. The crown prince was very worried that Lei Guheng would not retreat to cross the bridge even if he had the chance. .

He sent people to the south bank to inquire about the news there, the most important thing was to know how Lei Guheng was doing now, but the news didn't come over, which made the prince's heart feel extremely heavy like a stone.

In the darkness, the prince did not turn his head when he heard footsteps coming from behind. He had already ordered that no one should enter the hall to disturb him. Except for one person, that person was not Liuli, but Zhao Quan, the guard who commanded him. Guan Lei Guheng's news can only come in and report.

"Your Highness!" Zhao Quan knelt down on one knee in the darkness, his voice was very heavy: "There is already news about General Lei."

The prince turned the wheelchair, turned around, stared at Zhao Quan's figure in the darkness, and asked, "Old General...have you crossed the bridge?"

Zhao Quan hesitated for a moment, but did not speak.

The prince frowned and said lightly, "Why didn't you reply?"

"Your Highness...!" The Crown Prince had heard Zhao Quan's voice sobbing, "General Lei... General Lei has already died for the country, died in Tiger Guard City...!"

The prince was stunned, and asked again: "What did you say? Who died for the country? Who died?"

Zhao Quan said sadly: "Your Highness, it has been found out that General Lei retreated to the Tiger Guard City and was surrounded by ten times as many rebels. The old general led his troops to kill the enemy, and finally... finally committed suicide in the city...! "

The prince trembled and said angrily: "You are talking nonsense, Zhao Quan, I want you to say it again, the old general has already crossed the bridge, if you dare to speak nonsense and curse the old general, I will take your life now... ...!"

Zhao Quan raised his head, his eyes were red, "Your Highness, I know that His Highness will not believe it, and I don't believe it either, but...but the news is absolutely true, and...and the Tianmen Taoist has sent someone to deliver the old general's body When we arrived at Qinmen Bridge, someone came to tell us whether a man named General Ri in Tianmen Dao admired the old general, so he specially sent someone to return the old general's body. City, they told them that almost all Thunder Cavalry died on the battlefield, and in the end, dozens of Thunder Cavalry fighters were...followed by General Lei and committed suicide to serve the country with death...!"

The prince was trembling all over, his hands were already clenched into fists, his veins were protruding, and tears flowed down his eyes involuntarily.

He couldn't believe it, didn't dare to believe it, and even less wanted to believe that the brave and invincible Lei Guheng had really died.

Although these days, he has been feeling uneasy, but when the news came, he still couldn't believe it.

Suddenly, the crown prince burst into laughter and said, "Zhao Quan, you have been deceived by Tianmen Dao. They are a mob with no sense of benevolence or morality. If the old general really left, why would they send the body? This must be their trick, trying to hurt our morale. You don't know the tricks of Tianmen Dao, I don't blame you, get up and talk...!"

Although he said this, the corners of his eyes were twitching, and even his hands were shaking.

Zhao Quan didn't get up, and lowered his head: "The humble official knows that His Highness knows the news, and he will be sad, but...the humble official dare not lie to His Highness, the old general's body has already been transported across the river, and Commander Miao has... also already Order to destroy Yongfeng Bridge and Qinmen Bridge...!"

Commander Miao's name is Miao Feng, and he is a general of the guard army promoted by the prince. Now he is leading three guard troops to garrison Qinshui. He is a frontline general and is responsible for defending Qinshui.

The prince opened his mouth, but found that he was unable to speak. There seemed to be something stuck in his throat, which made him unable to speak, and it was even more difficult to breathe.

The weird smile on his face was still stiff, but the expression in his eyes was extremely sad, and this expression also appeared extremely terrifying. In the hall, there was a dead silence for a while, and the prince's whole body twitched. Finally, he slowly closed his eyes, tears running down his cheeks, and suddenly, he yelled: "Qin is not guaranteed...!" Then there was a "wow", a mouthful of blood spewed out of his mouth, The whole person has also fallen from the wheelchair to the ground.

Zhao Quan exclaimed: "Your Highness!" He rushed forward and supported the prince. The prince's mouth was covered with blood, and he said in grief: "General Lei... Teacher... Teacher... General Lei...!" He kept repeating this After two sentences, the voice gradually became weaker, and he passed out.

When the prince woke up, he was already lying on the soft couch, surrounded by bright lamps, the bright lights were bright, but the prince's face was pale and terrifying. Turning his head to look, he saw Liuli sitting next to him, with her beautiful eyes closed, as if Already asleep, the prince barely sat up, Liuli heard the movement, opened his eyes, and saw the prince wake up, showing joy, "Your Highness, are you awake?"

"How long have I been sleeping? What time is it now?" The prince sat up, and Liuli was already holding a cushion on the prince's back, and said softly: "It's just dawn, is there any discomfort in your body? The imperial doctor came, It is said that Your Highness is in a hurry, and you need to take good care of it, and you should not get angry and anxious... Yes, Your Highness, I will go get the medicine later." She got up and went to get the medicine, but the prince had already reached out and grabbed her arm, shaking his head and said: "No need...!"

"Your Highness, I know how you feel...!" Liuli sighed quietly, "We are all grieving for General Lei's disaster, but... Your Highness can't disregard my own body just because of sadness."

The corners of the prince's eyes twitched, and he sighed: "So I was not dreaming, old general... the old general really went?"

Liuli sighed: "Zhao Quan has already sent someone to bring back the body of the old general...Your Highness, once the old general left, the pillars of the empire would collapse, and the southeast half of the wall was already under the control of Tianmen Dao. They are far away from the capital. It is close at hand, and will call soon, the safety of the capital now depends entirely on His Royal Highness, and His Highness should take care of his health for the sake of the country."

"Jiangshan Sheji?" The prince smiled bitterly: "Can this Jiangshan Sheji be kept? Once the old general is gone, our Great Qin has no power to return to heaven... The southeast is gone, Hebei and Fuhai are at war, Jinling rebelled, and Sichuan is in chaos. It won't last long, the northwest...!" Shaking his head, he sighed, "The name of the northwest is the territory of the Great Qin, but in fact, the king's life is no longer worth a penny in the northwest... Liuli, tell me, my Great Qin was rich in the world and respected by all nations. It has come to such a point? This...what the hell is going on...!"